Peace River School Division Faces Challenging Budget

Peace River School Division Faces Challenging Budget

For immediate release

November 28, 2019 - The Peace River School Division Board of Trustees has a challenge ahead of them after the announcement of the October 24, 2019, Provincial budget. The PRSD Board of Trustees was directed by Alberta Education in June 2019 to submit a spring preliminary budget outlining the needs of the school division for the 2019/2020 school year. At that time the Board chose to submit a budget maintaining for the most part status quo within the division.

The Provincial Budget tabled in October 2019 while maintaining base funding, and some of the other grants did result in a funding shortfall of over $800,000.00 for the 2019/2020 school year. The Board has held meetings to discuss various options. The Board favoured maintaining school staffing levels and using accumulated reserves to offset the funding shortfall.

The Fall Budget is due to be submitted to Alberta Education by January 6, 2020, and senior management will bring the updated budget to the Board for approval at the December 19, 2019, regular meeting of the Board of Trustees.